For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. - 2 Corinthians 6:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 13, 2018): 2 Corinthians 6

A legal battle surrounds the poem commonly known as “Footprints” or “Footprints in the Sand.” At least a dozen people have apparently claimed the poem as a product of their intellectual work, but three ladies – Mary Stevenson, Margaret Fishback Powers, and Carolyn Joyce Carty - seem to be the most persistent that the poem originates with them. And each of the suitors has a different story and date connected with the poem. And therein lies the problem in assigning ownership. The poem was originally published as an anonymous work and began appearing in print in the late 1970’s. Each of the early appearances of the poem was slightly different, and always with the attribution of “Author Unknown.” The differences between the poems as they appeared in print were close to the form as presented by one of the three ladies. But the story told in the poem is a common one and one that we have all experienced – which gives the poem its power.

“Footprints” is an allegory of life. In the poem, life is seen as sand, and our lives are the footprints. Depending on the version, the one leaving the footprints are described as being an elderly man, a young woman, or a pilgrim making his way through life. And in this allegorical dream, the main character is given the opportunity to look back over the life that they have led. And throughout most of the path that they had walked, they note that there were two sets of footprints; their’s and God’s. But it is then that they notice something wrong. It seems that during the most critical moments of life, the times when they felt overwhelmed by life, there is only one set of footprints. Of course, the discovery leaves them with a question. Why God would you leave in the moments when I needed you the most?

God’s answer comprises the climax and moral of the story. And here again the versions differ slightly, but the message remains the same. One version phrases it this way:

Then the inner voice of God softly spoke and said, "I have not left you.

The one set of footprints is mine.

You see, I am carrying you through the wilderness."

These are words that everyone one of us needs to hear; that in the worst moments of life, God is not just walking with us, he is the one who is carrying us.

Paul is trying to give us a similar message. He quotes Isaiah 49:8, a passage that is written about the restoration of Israel. But in this letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul argues that the words of Isaiah apply to them as well. Here is a maybe a little more of what Isaiah said that God had in mind:

 This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
⁹ to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’

                                    (Isaiah 49:8-9a)

Paul’s message, God promised that at the time of his favor he would hear you and in the day of salvation that he would help you. Now is that day, and in the midst of your stress know that he hears you, and that he helps you, and that it is his footprints that even now you see in the sand as he carries you.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 7